Documentary sheds light on Amit Shah’s link in Muzaffarnagar riots

The 50-minute documentary showed lives of riot-affected families living in refugee camps.

Gopal Menon’s documentary The Killing Fields of Muzaffarnagar, that was screened at St Xavier’s college in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, shows incidents behind riots in Muzaffarnagar, pointing out that riots were instigated by right-wing Hindu politicians after Gujarat minister Amit Shah was sent to UP for Lok Sabha elections. The 50-minute documentary showed lives of riot-affected families living in refugee camps. The Supreme Court has taken into cognizance Menon’s documentary as one of the five DVDs submitted to the apex court by petitioners seeking justice to show the incidents of riots.

After the screening, Menon told this newspaper, “Muzaffarnagar has a history of keeping peace. There was not a single clash reported in the wake of the Partition or during the Babri Masjid demolition. However, a small motorbike accident between two boys of two communities led to such a big riot? All local politicians who called for sabhas before riots were in the Shah’s shadow. The riots were manufactured by them to settle their feet in UP before elections.”

The documentary has live footage of panchayat sabhas, with politicians inciting communities. Menon said, “We’ve also spoken to a local group prepared in UP called ‘Narendra Modi Army’ that was one of the most active groups that committed atrocities on Muslims during the riots.”